Patients United Now Ad: Strong On Emotion, Weak On Facts

May 27, 2009 11:04 am ET

On May 27, 2009, Patients United Now, a new group funded by the right-wing Americans for Prosperity, released an ad titled "Survivor" that argues that Canadian-style government health care is being imported into the United States. The ad conveniently leaves out the current state of health care in the U.S. - many Americans cannot afford health care, those who can are often denied coverage by private insurers, and Americans want an overhaul of the U.S. health care system.

Ad:
Government Involvement In Health Care Will Lead To Delayed Or Denied Care...

Patients
United Now, "Survivor" TV Spot: In Canada "...Care is delayed or
denied. Some patients wait a year for
vital surgeries. Delays that can be
deadly." [PatientsUnitedNow.com, "Survivor" ad, accessed 5/27/09]

Many Americans Have Been
Priced Out Of Health Care. As Ezra Klein points
out on his blog: "If you look at waiting times, you'll see that relatively few
Americans wait more than four months for surgery, which helps folks claim that
America doesn't ration care, and makes our system look pretty good on the
waiting times metric. Here's what they don't tell you: When you look at who
foregoes care, the international comparisons reverse themselves. About 23% of Americans report that they
didn't receive care, or get a test due to cost. In Canada, that number is 5.5%." [Ezra
Klein blog, The American Prospect, 12/5/08,
emphasis added]

American Families
Already Faced With Cancer Diagnosis Also Have Difficulty Paying For Health
Care. According to a Lake Research Poll: "Half
(52%) of families with a person under 65 who has had a cancer diagnosis say
they have had difficulty paying for health care costs. Additionally, close to half (47%) of those
currently receiving cancer-related care has had difficulty affording care."
[ACSCAN.org, 5/20/09]

Rather
Than Waiting In Line, Americans Simply Do Not Get Care. As Ezra Klein argues in the Los Angeles Times, "although Britain and
Canada have decided that no one will go without, even if some must occasionally
wait, the U.S. has decided that most of
us who can't afford care simply won't get it." [Los Angeles Times, 4/7/09,
emphasis added]

Without
COBRA Or Other Health Coverage, People "Are More Likely To Forgo Needed Medical
Care And Incur Medical Debt." A
December 2008 report released by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the
Uninsured stated: "many workers find that after losing a job they are not able
to afford the premiums required to continue employer-sponsored insurance
through COBRA...Without insurance, these adults are more likely to forgo needed
medical care and incur medical debt.
They are also at risk of having their health problems treated as
pre-existing conditions if they later regain employer-sponsored coverage." [KFF.org, accessed 1/14/09]

2008 Study: "The Total
Premiums To Cover A Family Are Up To $12,680." The National Conference of State Legislatures
reported: "In 2008 the average fully insured individual faced an employee share
of $725 for 1-person coverage and a $3,354 annual share for family
coverage. The total premiums to
cover a family are up to $12,680 according to the annual Kaiser/HRET
survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Benefits." [NCSL.org, accessed 1/13/09,
emphasis added]

Ad: Canadian-Style
Health Care, Coming To A U.S.
Near You...

...But Those
Involved In Health Care Reform Do NOT Want A Canadian System

Health Care Reform Will
Be Uniquely American. Sen. Max Baucus, who is spearheading health
care reform from the helm of the Senate Finance Committee, said: "We are not Europe. We are not
Canada...We
need a uniquely American solution. It
has to be a partnership of public and private players." [Washington Post, 5/11/09]

President Obama: "Keep
The Private Sector Honest, Because There's Some Competition Out There." During the Health Care Summit at the White
House, Senator Grassley commented to President Obama, "there's a lot of us that
feel that the public option that the government is an unfair competitor and
that we're going to get an awful lot of crowd out, and we have to keep what we
have now strong, and make it stronger." President Obama replied: "The thinking
on the public option has been that it
gives consumers more choices, and it helps give -- keep the private
sector honest, because there's some competition out there. That's been the
thinking. [Health Care Summit,
Transcript via Talking Points Memo, 3/5/09]

"A Public Plan Would
Provide An Essential Option" For Americans.
Harold Pollack, public health policy researcher at the University of Chicago's
School of Social Service Administration and
faculty chair of the Center for Health Administration Studies, wrote in an
op-ed: "A public plan would provide an
essential option--and an equally essential backup--for millions of
Americans living with chronic illnesses or disabilities." [The New Republic, 3/10/09]

Sen. Baucus: The
Reformed Health Care System "Will Be A Public/Private Hybrid."The American Prospect published a quote of Senator Baucus saying: "We
need health insurer reform to get rid of preexisting conditions and other ways
insurers discriminate. That's part of our plan here, and the CEOs of many
larger insurance companies are on board. They know this change is coming. They
may lose the current model but they pick up on volume with 46 million people
coming into the system...And that will
be a public/private hybrid. There may come a time when we can push for
single payer. But that time is not yet, and so I'm not going to waste my
time." [The American Prospect, accessed 3/6/09]

Ad: The
Government Will Come Between You And Your Doctor...

Patients
United Now, "Survivor" TV Spot: "...government should never come in between your
family and your doctor." [PatientsUnitedNow.com, "Survivor" ad, accessed 5/27/09]

...But What
About Private Insurance Companies Getting Between Americans And Their Doctors?

Americans Face Denials
For Coverage From Insurance Companies Every Day. Americans are already facing the denial of
treatments from their private insurance companies, according to the Wall Street Journal. As Diane Archer,
director of the Health Care Project at Institute for America's Future recently
argued in the New York Times: "As any
doctor will tell you, when a private health insurance plan delays or denies a
physician-recommended service, it is deciding who gets care and what kind of
care people get." [Wall Street Journal,
9/25/08; New York Times, 5/8/09]

Major Insurance
Companies Pay For Access To Private Medical Information. According to a Business Week report, "Most consumers and even many insurance
agents are unaware that Humana, UnitedHealth Group, Aetna (AET), Blue Cross
plans, and other insurance giants have ready access to applicants' prescription
histories. These online reports, available in seconds from a pair of
little-known intermediary companies at a cost of only about $15 per search, typically
include voluminous information going back five years on dosage, refills, and
possible medical conditions. The
reports also provide a numerical score predicting what a person may cost an
insurer in the future." [Business
Week, 7/23/08,
emphasis added]

Insurance Companies Hire
Agencies To "Do Computerized Searches" Of A Person's Health Record. According to the Miami Herald, "to
make sure that applicants are not lying, insurers hire a data-gathering service
-- Medical Information Bureau, Milliman's Intelliscript or Ingenix Medpoint.
Intelliscript and Medpoint do computerized searches of a person's drug use,
gleaned from pharmacy benefits managers and other databases." [Miami Herald,
3/28/09]

Insurers Use The Data To
Deny Coverage And To Charge Higher Premiums.
According to a Business Week
report: "Two-thirds of all health insurers are using prescription data-not only
to deny coverage to individuals and families but also to charge some customers
higher premiums or exclude certain medical conditions from policies, according
to agents and others in the industry. Some carriers are also using the data to
charge small employers higher group rates." [Business Week, 7/23/08]

Common Diseases And
Conditions Are Often Reasons For Coverage Denial. The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune reported, "in Minnesota,
the most common reasons for denial are obesity, mental health conditions,
hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. But there are less
well-known reasons insurers consider on a case-by-case basis: chemical
dependency, allergies that require costly injectable drugs, a previous
C-section, previous use of infertility medicine or something as simple as being
pregnant." [Star Tribune, 1/10/09]

"Pre-Existing Condition
Exclusions" Included In Coverage After An Individual Has Gone Without Health
Insurance. According to the Kaiser Commission on
Medicaid and the Uninsured: "If an individual is uninsured for 63 days or more,
pre-existing condition exclusions can be imposed by their new health plan for
most health conditions for which treatment, advice or diagnosis were received
in the six months prior to enrolling in an employer-sponsored insurance plan. Insurers can typically refuse to cover
medical care related to pre-existing conditions for up to one year." [KFF.org,
accessed 1/14/09]

Some Insurance Companies
Treat Caesarean Sections As A Pre-Existing Condition. According to the New York Times: "Insurers'
rules on prior Caesareans vary by company and also by state, since the states
regulate insurers, said Susan Pisano of America's Health Insurance Plans, a
trade group. Some companies ignore the surgery, she said, but others treat it
like a pre-existing condition. 'Sometimes the coverage will come with a rider
saying that coverage for a Caesarean delivery is excluded for a period of
time,' Ms. Pisano said. Sometimes, she said, applicants with prior Caesareans
are charged higher premiums or deductibles." [New York Times, 6/1/08]

Insurers Justify
Exclusion Policies, Saying "They Need These Strategies To Protect Themselves." The New
York Times reported, "with individual coverage, insurers in many states can
vary their prices based on medical history, exclude certain services or reject
anyone they consider a bad risk...Insurers say they need these strategies to
protect themselves, because some customers apply only after they get sick or
pregnant, skewing the pool toward people with high expenses." [New York Times, 6/1/08]

And No
Matter What Patients United Now Says, Americans WANT Increased Governmental
Oversight In Health Care

More Than 70% Of
Americans Polled Want An Increased Governmental Role In Health Care. According to CNN, "seventy-two
percent of those questioned in recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey
say they favor increasing the federal government's influence over the country's
health care system in an attempt to lower costs and provide health care
coverage to more Americans, with 27 percent opposing such a move. Other recent
polls show six in 10 think the government should provide health insurance or
take responsibility for providing health care to all Americans." [CNN.com, 3/5/09]

Plurality of Americans
Polled Think Health Care Is The Most Pressing Issue For Congress And The
President. According to a New York Times/CBS News
Poll conducted February 18-22, 2009 and based on 1,112 respondents, when asked
"Beside the economy, which of these domestic policy areas do you want the
President and Congress to concentrate on MOST right now - health care, global
warming, education, or Social Security?" the respondents answers were: 40% Health Care, 5% Global
Warming, 27% Education, 22% Social Security, 4% Something Else/Combination, and
1% Didn't Know. [New York Times/CBS
Poll, 2/09]

The
Majority Of Americans Want An Obama-style Mix Of Public And Private According to a poll conducted by Lake Research:

60% of Americans favor "providing access to
affordable, quality health care for all Americans even if it means raising
taxes."

71% of Americans favor "providing access to
affordable, quality health care for all Americans even if it means a major role
for the federal government."

73% of Americans prefer "having a choice of private
health insurance or a public health insurance plan." [Lake Research
poll, 01/09]

From Jason
Rosenbaum at HCAN:
"The health care reform proposal from President Obama is not a copy of any
other system in the world. We're not going to become Britain
or Canada.
With Obama's proposal, you can keep the insurance you have if you like it, period. Nobody will force you into anything."

And as
Jessica Kutch at SEIU
points out: "This latest attack is lifted straight off a messaging memo by
Republican strategist Frank Luntz, whose talking points aim to undermine health
care reform in three simple steps: scare, conflate and confuse the American
public. The ad's format is similar to a series of Rick Scott ads from earlier
this month (guess they're low on creativity in the Grand Old Party), pairing up
health care stories with misleading claims about reforming the system."